← ArchiveSunday, October 7, 2018DateOctober 7, 2018Speaker—TextEphesians 4Passages in this sermonMatthew 204:08Matthew 20:244:12Ephesians 44:17John 1314:57Matthew 2531:06TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Thank you. God, choir, thank you for that reminder.0:30Crown Him, crown Him, King of Glory. Crown Him, crown Him, Lord of All. It never gets old, does it? It never gets old. My name is Josh Burnham, lead pastor here at Bethel. I haven't had a chance to say hello, so hello. Nice to meet you guys. In 1896, I'm not going to say who was around then, but 1896, a man named Vilfredo, I love that name, Vilfredo, makes me want to go to Olive Garden.0:59Vilfredo Pareto published his first work. Some of you have never heard of this man or his work, but you have heard his conclusion because it still manifests itself in your life today. So he's an economics professor, and this is what he concluded studying Italy. He looked around and said that 20% of people in Italy owned 80% of the land. And so economics professors and institutions since then1:30have actually used the Pareto principle that say most of the effects in the world and in organizations, that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. But that's not the way it should be in the house of God. So we're going to see how the Lord changes our lives to serve in a way that honors him with the strength that he has given. Howard Fredericks once described the local church in this way.2:00He said, The local church is a football game. 22 people on the field badly in need of rest and 40,000 people in the stands badly in need of exercise. I love that. 22 people on the field needing rest and 40,000 people in the stands badly in need of exercise. Now, why do I bring the Pareto principle into our service today?2:27Why do I bring what Hendrick says about the church into our worship gathering? Can you imagine if all of the people of God, 100%, were serving Christ like we should be? How this world would be radically different. That the world will look at us and say, In my organization, 20% of the people do 80% of the work. And we see in the church that the Holy Spirit is doing 100% of the effect,2:54but all of God's people are serving. What is wrong with you? And we can say we've been redeemed. We've been equipped. We've been refit to do the work of the ministry. So if you haven't caught today's message yet, it's going to be on service. Service 101. So we're in a series of five parts of back to the basics. So we began with what is the church? You can't invite anyone to church.3:24Only the Holy Spirit can do that. If you are in Christ, you are the church. If you are in Christ, you are the church. Secondly, we looked at how we share our faith, that God has called us to do the work of the evangelists. That's who we are. If we've been saved, we save others. Not us, the Holy Spirit. We are beggars who have found bread, telling other people where to find bread. And then we looked at generosity last week, that we have a generous, gracious God.3:52And how much more so should we be generous, gracious people? So today we ask ourselves, Lord, how can we serve you? How can we serve you? We're going to look at two passages of scripture, one in Matthew. So you can go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter 20 today. Matthew chapter 20, verse 24. And then you can mark your Bible in Ephesians. We will look at Ephesians chapter four also. Back to the basics. Service 101 today.4:22Service 101. Matthew chapter 20, beginning in verse 24. I'm not going to tell you the back story. We'll fill that in shortly. So verse 24 picks up this way. When the ten disciples heard this. Let me stop really quick. So how many disciples were there? 12, okay. So if 10 hears something, where are the other two?4:51Okay, hold on to that. They became indignant, angry with the two brothers. Jesus called them over and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them. And those in high positions act as tyrants over them. That would never happen today, by the way. It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.5:18And whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his self as a ransom for many. Let's pray. Father, you sent your son not to be served,5:39but to serve and give himself as a ransom for us, for many. Lord, help us understand your truth. We know that only through the illumination of the Holy Spirit can we understand anything about the majesty and the holiness of our God. So Lord, open our hearts and our minds.6:08Father, where we are distracted, remove those that we may look upon you, the author and the perfecter of our faith, that we would serve because you call us to be servants. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. I have two points this morning. Two points. The first is we serve because he is our model. We serve because Jesus is our model.6:35Look back at verse 24. So the disciples, 10, heard this. You say, well, what did they hear? I'm glad you asked. Look at verse 20. So what we have is the two brothers, James and John, known as the sons of Thunder or the sons of Zebedee, and their mom. So apparently they missed somewhere in Jesus' teaching, Geography 101. Because what we find here in Matthew 20, mom, by herself at first it seems,7:05comes to Jesus and says, I have a question for you, Jesus. Promise that my sons would sit on your side in heaven. So where are the brothers at this point? We have to ask. So if mom is asking this question in verse 20, where are the disciples? Where are the other two? Well, we find them in verse 22. They pipe up and say, you don't know what you're asking.7:34Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? We are able. How did this one woman become three? Well, her sons were there. So they're asking Jesus for something that she has no business asking about, first of all. And so we don't know who put mom up to that. Is she just wanting something that we all want for our kids? Lord, promise me that my sons will be great in the kingdom of heaven. Did the two ask mom, hey mom, would you do this?8:02Or did she on her own ask Jesus this? Apparently she missed geography 101. Here's the struggle. She's asking for heavenly real estate and she equates earthly prestige to heavenly status. This is a mistake that she makes, right? If God, of course, people who sit to the right and the left of the king on earth are of great importance. So obviously it will happen that way in heaven. So Lord, give my boys their status.8:31Well, when the other ten heard this, what is their reaction? They're angry, right? They're indignant. Now, we don't know why they're angry. Are they angry at this elementary inquiry? Are they simply mad because they're thinking, how could they even ask that? Did they not go through geography 101? Heaven is not like earth. Or are they angry because they're asking for something that they want?8:58Or are they angry because they're saying, you're not getting that seat because that's my seat. That's a question I'm going to ask in heaven one day. We don't know that. But the struggle that we have is now Jesus has a chance to tell his disciples, look, what you think about heaven and status and prestige in the world around you is not the same way in the status in the kingdom of God. And it's a good moment for us to pause and reflect in the lives that we build for ourselves.9:27The importance that we think we have. Look at all this money I have. Or look at this label or this prestige. Do you not know who I am? It makes me laugh all the time when you see people, celebrities and people of status being pulled over. Whether it's drunk driving or speeding. And often in the police report, the first thing out of their mouth is what? Do you not know who I am? That has nothing to do with the situation. But we pull the same excuse, don't we?9:56We say, God, don't you know what I've done for you? God, let me. Of course. I don't even want the right side, the side of honor. Give me the left side. And Jesus says, okay, church, listen in. Let's talk about the kingdom of God. Because he is our model. So let's look at scriptures together. Jesus calls them over, verse 25, and says, you know, guys, that the Gentiles lord over one another.10:19And those in high positions act as tyrants over them. Not so in our culture. But just let's assume it might happen, right? Not so, Lord. And he says in verse 26, it must not be so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.10:46The word great here that Jesus uses is the word that you know well. It's the word mega or megas. It's the word that means a large quantity or of great status. They're asking for greatness. Lord, make us great. Lord, give us something. Lord, we've left everything for you. God, throw us a bone here. Give us something. And Jesus says, but don't you understand?11:16Your idea of greatness is not God's idea of greatness. And maybe what you want for your life is not what God wants for your life. I was reading this article about team captains. It was a book written in 2017 by Sam Walker. And it's profound application for the church today. And so what Sam Walker does is he goes and looks at all these professional sports teams,11:43these great teams throughout history, and he studies the team captain. And one of these studies, he examines in 1962 the consecutive World Cups of Brazil. Now, for those of you who don't know anything about soccer, you probably know the greatest soccer player in Brazil's history, right? A man named Pelé. I even heard someone that knows soccer because they called him Pelé. But here's what he does when he examined this team, though.12:13Listen to this. He found the characteristics of a great team captain. He said they took care of the tough, unglamorous task. In other words, team captains throughout history, the best team captains are rarely stars. Did you know that although Pelé scored over 77 goals for the Brazilian national team, he never once was a team captain? He never once was a team captain. It was a man, actually, by the name of Hildorado Bellini.12:42Anyone ever heard that name before? Most of us, because of this name and also of Vivaldi that I spoke earlier, most of us are wanting Italian at this point in the service, Italian food. But Pelini was a central defender. Can you imagine how many goals he scored in his whole career? Zero. Walker examined his life, so he scored zero goals in one of the greatest teams that the world has ever known.13:12And this is what he concludes. He concludes that captains on my list were rarely exceptional talents. Talents on my, captains on my list were rarely exceptional talents. The leader's job was not to dazzle on the field, but to labor in the shadows for the stars, to carry water for the team, or to lead from the back.13:40You see, we find this truth in Scripture about kingdom greatness. Kingdom greatness is not about who you are. It's about who Jesus is. It's not about you. It's not about me. You say, well, look at what I've done for God. Let me just burst your spiritual bubble right now. If I am not serving in the strength of the Holy Spirit, I've done nothing for the kingdom. We say, Pastor, you don't know what I've given to this church.14:10I have a plaque somewhere around here. You don't understand who I am. The Bible says that my best is as filthy rags. It's not about who I am. It's about who I know. It's about Jesus Christ. It's not about who I am. It's about what I do for the kingdom. The best team captives throughout history are those who labored in the shadows. And Jesus is looking at his disciples. He's saying, guys, you don't get what you're asking. Serve in the shadows.14:41And look at your model. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to what? To serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. We don't see it here in Matthew. But what we find later in the book of John, only several days later, in John chapter 13, we have Jesus at the Last Supper washing the feet of the disciples. For me, there is no greater act of service than to have the master say, take off your shoes.15:11And in the Jewish tradition, not even a Hebrew slave could be commanded to wash someone's feet. And yet Jesus models to us what true servanthood looks like. And I would have had the same reaction as Peter. He said, Lord, you're not washing my feet. He'd say, Lord, you're not serving me. I should be serving you.15:40And Jesus said, but you don't understand. I'm the model. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give himself as a ransom for many. So I simply ask, are you living according to the model that is set before you? Are you living according to the model that has been set before you? Not of you serve me because I've paid my dues. And not that I am Mega Man. Jesus says, if you want to be Mega Man, if you want to be great, Megas, then make yourself a slave.16:11Make yourself a servant. There is only one who is great, and that is the great I am. Church, we serve because he is our model. He is our model. So with that, let's look at how we serve now. If we are to serve because Christ is our model, look at Ephesians 4, verse 11 now. Ephesians chapter 4. So you just continue in your New Testament.16:40I don't have my mark, so I'll join you guys there as we find it. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Ephesians chapter 4. So if we are commanded to serve, now how do we serve? How do we serve? Yeah, what I love about Scripture, the overwhelming theme in Scripture, is that ministry is not for the professionals. It's for the saints.17:10Ministry is not for the professionals. It's for the saints. And you say, well, okay, who's a saint? You know, do we get these halos and we get bestowed sainthood by a pastor somewhere or a board of elders or a, you know, or the Vatican? Who gives me saint status? If you are in Christ, that's what you are. You are redeemed, you are forgiven, and you are a saint for the glory of the Lord. Look at verse 11 with me of Ephesians 4.17:39And Jesus himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and some teachers. Now, some of you are thinking, I'm off the hook, I'm done, right? I'm not a pastor, I'm not a teacher, I'm not an evangelist, I'm not an apostle, I'm not a prophet. And so you just checked out. Okay, if you just checked out, check verse 12 out, right?18:07Equipping the saints, who are saints? That's right, I saw some hands, right? We are, I am in Christ. Equipping me for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ, his fullness.18:30So we serve because Jesus is our model, and then we serve because he equips us for ministry. He equips you for ministry. The word here, equip, in verse 12, is a word only used right here in the New Testament. It's only used right here, and it's a word used in classical Greek that means refitting. It could mean to reset a bone. I don't like that because I've had a bone reset, so we'll just ignore that example.19:00It also means refit, as you refit an ancient vessel. And so I have someone in my family that used to be captain in the Navy, so I called him up and said, hey, I need to know something about refitting ships, and you would know. And he said, give me an hour, I'm driving. And so in an hour later, he called and unloaded on me. Everything that I would want to know, and I was just eating it up. And he said this about ancient ships, especially in Greece. They were made from the foundation, and the foundation of the ship was a keel.19:30And they would always use the hardest wood they could find, which is most likely white oak. And white oak is very difficult for termites or other insects to penetrate, so they would use that as the foundation. And what would happen, these ships would go out, sometimes for short voyages, sometimes for long voyages, and the mast would break. And the mast were just simple trees that they would use to hold the sails.19:57Or most often, that they would have the tar or the pitch between the seams of the wood would grow weary, and it would be tossed by the waves, and they would have to repatch that. And so you would have to go through and actually patch the ship back together, and they would bring them into the port. And he told me, sometimes the port was, hey, we need to stop here, or we can't go any further. It was a place of convenience. And they would add elements, or they would take elements away,20:26but they would refit the ship to make it seaworthy again. They wouldn't refit the ship that it would remain in port, or become a museum. The ship was refit so that it would be ocean worthy. And as soon as the ship was refit, where would it go? Back to do the work that it was created to do. And I see this beautiful example Paul is saying, look, guys, the Lord is equipping you.20:56For what? To go back out into the sea. To go back out into the voyage. To do the work that God has destined you to do. And you say, well, how is he doing that? Yes. You're here, aren't you? Today, God is refitting you to do the work of the ministry tomorrow and this afternoon. And maybe this week has been a difficult voyage.21:22Maybe you feel like the ship that went through the hurricane. And you are battered, and you are weary. Praise God that the Holy Spirit knows the parts that need to be refit in our lives. And maybe you, this week, you had an easy voyage. Maybe your week was, man, I got a raise, and I got a promotion, and the kids, they didn't even bicker at once, and they did all their chores, and I'm going to early retire, and the world is beautiful. God is still refitting you to do the work that he has called you to do.21:54So I ask you in your life right now, how is God refitting? Oh, that we would not waste our lives. My prayer, my personal prayer is, God, I don't want to be the ship that you have worked on today, and tomorrow I do nothing. I don't want to be a museum. I don't want to be the ship that people walk on and say, look how beautiful and useful this thing used to be. I want to be the one that God says, I'm refitting you today to serve me now.22:22Go, church, go. May I never be the one that says, you know what, my work is done. My time is over. I've done. I've paid my dues. No, God refit me today that I might serve in the power of the Holy Spirit. God is refitting you to do mighty things for the kingdom. God is refitting you right now. God is refitting you to do mighty things for the kingdom, to change the world.22:48That's what God wants. He wants to change the world through you by the power of his Holy Spirit. So you say, well, how does that work? I get it. We serve because he's our model. Jesus is equipping me. Okay, now what? What does that look like? Well, Jesus gives us in his word what that looks like. He equips the saints for the what? For the work, not the relaxation of the pews. For the work of the ministry and to do what?23:15To build up, to build up the what? The body of Christ. When you serve the Lord, you are building up the body of Christ. You are building up the body of Christ. I think of the giants in my faith, and these are names that you have never heard before. I think of a lady named Miss Ferguson. She passed away, I believe, last year. This was her work. She rocked babies.23:46That's all she did. She was, in my mind, she was ancient when I was a baby. And then as I got older, she still was older. But all she wanted to do is serve Christ. And she felt called by the Holy Spirit to rock babies. Wow. I think of a lady named Miss Allison Waits. And I know her name more than I really know her face. And my parents told me, I remember two things about this lady.24:15One, her favorite hymn was Victory in Jesus. Her favorite hymn. I don't know why, but every time I hear that now, I think of this lady in my life. The second thing, and I'm going to make myself foolish, but that's okay. I do that a lot sometimes. But I sucked my thumb for years and years and years. Now, I stopped when I was about six or seven. My mom, who will be listening to this probably on Monday or Tuesday, she's going to argue that I sucked my thumb until I was in eighth grade. Mom, if you're listening, that's not true.24:45I'm pretty sure I was only six. But before I was born, Miss Allison Waits knit me a blanket. And she didn't know if I was a boy or a girl. So the blanket was half pink and half blue. And I loved that. So I would twirl that blanket in my right hand and I would suck it in my left hand. I loved that blanket so much that when my mom would wash it, my parents would wash it, I would sit in front of the dryer until it was finished drying. I mean, and so the only two things I really know about Miss Mary, actually Miss Mary Waits,25:15that she loved Christ. Her favorite hymn was Victory in Jesus. And she loved me enough to make a blanket that I carried with me until I was in eighth grade so I could suck my thumb. But listen to this. If that's all she did for the kingdom, she built up the church. I'm here because she invested. I think of a Sunday school teacher, Mr. Max Sturdivant.25:44I remember he had a lot of corny jokes. I remember he was tall and slender and gray hair. But he poured into those Sunday school classes, those young boys. Why anyone would teach third, fourth and fifth grade adolescent boys, I don't know. That's only by the power of the Holy Spirit. But he loved us and he invested in us. He's building up the body of Christ. I'm thinking of a dear friend in this church named Ann who we get a handwritten letter this year from her.26:12She taught my daughter. She was in her class this last year. Now, if you don't know anything about our family, my daughter's three. She can't read. So why would someone write a letter to a three-year-old to build up the body of Christ? To build up the body of Christ. What benefits do we have to serve?26:42I think of people who serve faithfully on Friday nights, CR. Serving people they have never met and they might not even know. But they serve them to say, look, if you have a hang-up or a habit, we want you to know that there's nothing that cannot be broken in Jesus Christ. And we love you. And they would love for you to serve on Fridays if you have a Friday available. When you serve, you build up the body of Christ. You say, well, Pastor, I'm in.27:11I want to build up the body of Christ. Then you'll serve. Then you'll serve somewhere. Are you a builder? Are you a builder? One day, my daughter's going to remember the name of a lady who wrote her a handwritten note which she couldn't read. Because her dad remembers a lady who I don't really know who knit a blanket because she loved Jesus Christ. Build up, church. Build up the body of Christ. And listen, if you never see the impact that you make in this world today, that's okay.27:37Because Jesus does the work. The Holy Spirit empowers us. And one day, we'll see the fruits of our labors in Jesus Christ. Be a builder. Be a builder. Not only does service build up the body of Christ, but look at verse 13. Until we all reach what? Unity.28:08Unity. So you show me someone who serves well, and I will show you someone who loves the unity of Christ in the church. Yeah, I think of it this way. When our hands are filled with the service of Christ, we won't have our hands in other people's business. But when my hands are full of serving Jesus Christ, I have less chance to have my hands in your business. When we serve, we promote the unity of Christ.28:36You show me someone who serves well, I'll show you someone who's probably not divisive. They just want to serve because they love the Lord Jesus Christ. Spurgeon says it this way. If you are idle in Christ's work, you are active in the devil's work. Do you want to be a peacemaker?28:56Do you want to create unity in the body of Christ? Serve. Serve him. Serve well. Put your head down and say, God, whatever you have for me to do today, I'll do. And if you call me to serve in the shadows, Lord, I'll serve in the shadows. But when you serve the Lord Jesus, you create unity in faith and in the knowledge of God's Son.29:25Not only are you a builder, but are you building unity? Are you building unity? But look what else happens when you serve. So some of you who are serving faithfully, I want to thank you and just create and stir up in you. You're like, man, this is awesome. Lord, when I serve, this happens. Yes. Look at verse 13. When we create unity, we also grow into what?29:55We grow into knowledge and we mature. We grow into, the CSB says, the maturity of the knowledge of the faith in the Son of God. You show me someone who serves faithfully and I will show you someone who is growing in the maturity of Jesus Christ. And this is what is heartbreaking as a pastor. And in churches all across our nation, we have people who have been members of churches for hundreds of years.30:21Tens of years. Tens of years. And you've gone to Sunday school and life group and you've heard probably thousands of sermons. But listen to me, if you are not serving the Lord, you are not as mature as you think you are. You are not as mature as you think you are. Because the days and the points in my life where I am not serving, I look back and those are the times where I was not maturing.30:47Because when we serve, what happens? When God refits us for His service, we grow into maturity. One of the parables that haunts me in my life is in Matthew chapter 25. Especially verse 26. If you know anything about that parable, the master leaves and he leaves his servants with talents.31:15One has a lot, one has about five, one has one. And those that have a lot, they've invested it. And then when the master returns, they give him, they say, Lord, they say, Master, look what we have with interest. Look what we've done. And he tells these servants who have been serving well, he says, well done, good and faithful servant. But to the servant who knew that his master was a shrewd man.31:40And he buries it in the dirt. He says, Lord, I know that you are a shrewd man. And you take that which is not yours. And Lord, I was scared. I didn't want to waste it. And so I buried the talent you gave me in the dirt. But Lord, I just want you to know, here it is. And my personal prayer for me is, Lord, may I never hear those words.32:05Josh, you evil, lazy servant. I equipped you and I refit you and you did nothing with it. You were content to sit in this little harbor that you built for yourself away from the waves and the storms.32:31But Josh, don't you know that when you would go through the storm, I was there? Don't you know when the rough waves were there that through my Holy Spirit, I was guiding you? But you were content to bury your talents, you lazy, evil servant. And you know what keeps me up at night for you guys? Because I'm your pastor.33:01That if you ever hear that in your life, it's also an indictment on me. My prayer is that none of us would ever hear that. That we would hear, Lord, we laid it all out. But when I didn't even have the strength to serve, I served because I knew that you have refit me. Lord, I've worked to build up the body of Christ. Lord, I worked to serve you because I love the unity of your church. And Lord, I wanted to mature in my faith. And Lord, I just confess that for me, my mind doesn't really work fire on all cylinders at all times.33:30And so sometimes I don't know what to think. So I just want to serve. And God will say, well done. Good and faithful servants. We serve because he is our model. We serve because he's equipped you. If you are in Christ, everyone here is equipped. Serve well. Use your gifts for the glory of Christ.33:58So how is this even possible? I was reading a story again of Corrie ten Boom. If you don't know who that is, she was a Dutch watchmaker in World War II. And she would hide the Jews out in her closet, in a hidden compartment in her house. And she eventually was uncovered and she was actually thrown into asylum to some of the concentration camps because of her faithfulness. This is what she says.34:27She says, trying to do the Lord's work in your strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. Trying to do the Lord's work in your strength is the most tedious, exhausting, and confusing of all work. And then she says this. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit.34:55And you say, well, I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you have confessed Him as Lord and you believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you are filled. God didn't give you a portion of the Holy Spirit or a baby spirit with one day that His Spirit would grow in you. No, you are filled with the Spirit of the living God. The same Spirit that we sing about already that rose Jesus Christ from the dead is the Spirit that lives in you. Why? For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry.35:24Listen, church. The 80-20 rule, Pareto's principle, does not apply to us in Jesus Christ. Because one, we don't do the work and we don't affect anything. The Holy Spirit is 100% of the work and the effect. And God alone gets 100% of the glory.35:53That's what James and John learned, right? Lord, let us sit here. And he says, you don't understand. Are you willing to serve me if you never get the glory? And may we stand up and commit today and say, Lord, I'm ready. I don't care what you ask me to do. My parents always told me, if you want to know the character of a man, watch how he treats the janitor. Watch how he interacts with the doorman.36:22Don't watch how he interacts with the politician or the king. But watch how he interacts with the servants. Because the Son of Man did not come to be served. But to serve and give his life is a ransom. If you are in Christ, you're called to serve. Serve well. Serve well. Maybe today you need to spend some time in confession where you sit or at the altar and say, God, I have not been serving like I have, like I should be.36:52I'm sorry. God, you've given me gifts. I don't even know what those are. But, Lord, I know you have refitted me. And, God, I will serve until you call me home. Lord, my time is not done. I've listened to the enemy. He's a liar. I have not paid my dues. My time is not over. When you take me home, that will be the day. But until then, Lord, we're going to kick down the gates of hell. And let the world know that the Holy Spirit is working through us.37:18Maybe you're here today and you have no clue what I just said for the last 30 minutes plus. Because you don't know Jesus Christ. Let's go back to the words that Jesus originally said in Matthew. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to what? To serve and give his life as a ransom. That word ransom means a price paid with a purpose.37:46And the price that Jesus paid was his life. You want to know how much Jesus loves you? He died for you. You want to know the value of your life to God? He let his only Son die for your sake. Why would God do that? Because the Bible says that in our sin, we have willingly rebelled from God.38:15And we are in rebellion and we are not in relationship. If you have sinned and you have not confessed Christ as Lord and Savior, you're not sick. You're not maybe with God. You're dead in your sins. Why would God look at me and say, Josh, you have willingly disobeyed me and rebelled? Why would he send his Son? Because he loves you. And he gave his Son as a ransom for who?38:44For many. Who's the many? You are. You are. So, Pastor, I want that. I want peace with God. I want unity. I want my sins forgiven. And I want to be declared righteous. If that's you today, here's the glorious promise in Scripture. If you confess that he is Lord. Lord means boss. And you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.39:11And right where you sit, I encourage you to get your life right with God. To look at you and say, God, I believe about me what you say. That I am a sinner fallen from grace. But, Lord, if I believe in you, I will be brought back into relationship to the glory of the Father through the Son. What is keeping you from being saved today? It's not Jesus. He died for you.39:41For the ransom of many. Today would today be the day that you confess him as Lord. You surrender to his will and you believe. Church, would today be the day where you say, I've been sitting too long. I need to serve because God has refit me for that. Today's the day. I'm committing today to serve the Savior like he wants me to. Let's pray.40:22Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.40:52Thank you. 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Thank you.1:00:22Thank you. Thank you.1:00:52Thank you. Thank you.1:01:22Thank you. Thank you.1:01:52Thank you. Thank you.1:02:22Thank you. Thank you.1:02:52Thank you.More sermons on Ephesians →
